Arkham

Arkham was a scholar and father of Lady who allied himself with Vergil in reviving Temen-ni-gru and worked to become a demon. After a failed ritual involving sacrificing his wife, Kalina Ann, he then gained an alter-ego known as the Jester. He then became interested in inheriting the power of Sparda, seeking out the Sword of Sparda to usher a new age of chaos. He was killed by the combined efforts of Dante and Vergil and his own daughter.

He is the main antagonist of Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening.

Devil May Cry 3 instruction manual

 * Arkham works closely with Vergil. Although human, he is driven to become a demon.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening Bradygames Official Guidebook

 * Arkham
 * Arkham is a scholar who works with Vergil to ressurect Temen-ni-gru, the massive that serves as a portal to Hell. Like Vergil, Arkham seeks to control and wield the power of the demon world, to become the Devil himself. He has sacrificed much to aquire the power he seeks, including the woman he once loved. However, the ceremony in which he murdered her went awry, and the power he obtained was immature. The scarring on his face serves as a grim reminder of the lengths to which this man will go to possess the power of Hell.


 * Jester
 * This laughing buffoon appears before Dante inside the Tower of Temen-ni-gru. The jester sometmes offers helpful advice as if he wants to help Dante on his mission. But sometimes, he cherrily throws an obstacle in the devil hunter's path. Jester's true motivations in this affair are uknown, and it's uncertain what agency he serves.

Appearance
Arkham appears as a tall, pale-skinned bald male adult. He dresses in a rather simple minister-esque fashion consistently of a purely black-colored ensemble devoid of color or any lightly-colored shades. His most distinguishing feature aside from his heterochromia is a large burnt scar covering the entire left side of his head and barely creeping over his face. In certain cutscenes whenever he begins to plot or becomes excited, this burn mark eerily squirms about. During the first half of the game, he is usually seen with a tome in his hand, though he is barely seen reading from it.

Personality
A sinister individual driven by his yearning to become a demon, Arkham is characterized as a cunning manipulator and intellectual scholar willing to sacrifice his own wife and use his own daughter in his endeavors. He also is willing to ally himself with those more powerful than him such as Vergil to make ends meet, ultimately betraying them when they serve their use. While in his usual persona, he is shown to be far calmer and maintains his composure.

As Jester, he possess a flamboyant and clownish personality, possessing the cunning and intellect he has as Arkham but with a crazed personality. He constantly taunts, and even berates, his opponents in this persona. Dante's comments insinuate that his vexing nature is even more annoying than his own.

Jester
During the first battle, he does not flinch if he's hit unless you strike while he fans himself with his scepter (this is triggered by shooting him with any firearm, although Ebony & Ivory are the most effective). You are free to do your most punishing and powerful combos while he's doing this. After this, Jester vanishes and summons a flurry of energy spheres and behaves more like a circus ringmaster. He still won't flinch while doing this. The spheres can be unpredictable and hard to avoid, but he summons them in one of three attack patterns: scrambled, his most unpredictable attack, where the spheres bounce around the whole area; circulating, the easiest pattern to avoid, where the spheres move around the area in an orderly, yet slow and circular fashion; and waves, which is hard to avoid if the player is near Jester, where the spheres come from a single portal above Jester, but in quick, devastating waves of three spheres in all directions. The only way to endure the waves unhurt is through timing your rolling and staying far from Jester while he's doing this.

The second and third battles are similar to the first one, only with three major differences:
 * They can be skipped
 * Jester attacks a bit more aggressively
 * When about half his health has been depleted, Jester will summon a giant, smiling ball to ride and attack with.

When he summons the ball, Jester's arsenal of attacks will change slightly. Sometimes, the "ball" will shoot a bomb from its mouth, similar to the one that the Hell Wrath struggles with. Another ability it has is the uncanny ability to use the spectral hand found on demonic door barriers to attack, usually when Jester uses his spheres; it is possible to tell if the ball will use it if it appears to be straining something. Then, there are the four large demonic barriers the ball summons when Jester uses any sphere pattern. Finally, the ball has the ability to explode when you attack Jester with a Devil Arm before he attacks. Once you make your move, Jester vanishes. The ball laughs and explodes a short time later. Jester then summons a new ball. A quick strategy is to take advantage of the fact that you can actually make Jester tired while he's on the ball. Then, barrage him with Swordmaster aerials and avoid his attacks.

During the last battle, the ball has two more attacks: Jester will roll it around, damaging anything in its path, or he will bounce around the area with it.

It's possible to break the ball when Jester is fanning himself. Even though he will summon another one later, doing so will give you more time to attack.

During the fight with Jester, if you listen closely, you can hear him shout random quotes from his cutscene dialogues, including "Welcome to Hell!" and "Jester's gonna spank your butt, spank you on the butt".

Before Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
In accordance to both Lady and Vergil, Arkham was scholar who studied in the blacks art. Years ago prior to Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Arkham married a woman named Kalina Ann, and the two eventually gave birth to Mary (who would later abandon the name for Lady). According to Lady, the family she ever had was her mother, indicating that Arkham and his daughter weren't close. At some point, Arkham came to discover the history of the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda, as well as the godly power the demonic warrior possessed. It was the point that Arkham became obsessed with the power of the devil, and wish to be a god in order to rule the world. In this pursuit of godhood, Arkham sacrificed his Kalina in a ritual to gain demonic power. However, ended in failure, resulting in a large burnt scar that the entire left side of his head, and the ability to transform himself in a demonic clown named Jester who wielded dark magic. The event also resulted in Mary forsaking her father and swearing the rest of her life to hunting him down and killing to avenge her mother.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Despite the failed ritual, Arkham was undeterred in his mission. As told by Lady, Arkham would go on to kill innocent people in his drive for demonic power, but likely ended in failure. At some point in time, Arkham also came to know the history of the Temen-ni-gru, an unholy tower constructed by devil worshipers in order to break down veil between the Human World and the Demon World. Eventually, Akrkham came in contact with Vergil, the eldest twin of the Sons of Sparda, a library. Knowing full well of Vergil's demonic heritage and desire to gain demonic power as well, Arkham explained to Vergil that resurrecting the tower was the way to obtain his father's ultimate power. He then decided to work with Vergil in order to help acquire the power of Sparda. However, little did Vergil know was that he was only an unkowing pawn in Arkham's own scheme to gain Sparda's power.

Powers and Abilities
After a failed ritual involving the sacrificing of his wife, he gained demonic power that is considered immature. This power was the ability to transform into his alter-ego, Jester, and himself as will. As Jester, he displays a multitude of powers.

Powers
Superhuman strength: Arkham is capable of knocking off three people who were all carrying their heavy weapons, into one eachother and across a room in one kick. Despite his enhanced strength, he is still weaker than Dante and Vergil in good condition, but can fight humans like Lady with little difficulty.

Superhuman speed: While in his Jester persona, he dances about to avoid bullets from Ebony & Ivory. While confronting Lady in Mission 6, he was able to catch a book he had dropped on her face while preparing to toss her over a ledge.

Accelerated healing: Arkham can heal from injuries faster than humans can, having no signs of injury a short time after being shot or stabbed.

Teleportation: As Jester, Arkham has shown the ability to teleport short distances.

Wall walking: Arkham has shown the ability to walk on walls and ceilings.

Devil Trigger: Using Force Edge, Arkham was able to take the form of Sparda for a short time before transforming into a hideous blob-like creature.

Abilities
Dark Magic: As Jester, Arkham shows many magic related abilities
 * Exploding spheres: As Jester, he summons circles that produce spheres that float about in various formations and speeds that explode on contact. These formations include floating around in a set pattern, bouncing around erratically in random patterns, and in quick, successive waves.
 * Demonic ball summoning: Jester can summon a demonic ball with a face that resembles his own. He stands atop the ball and it can spit out explosives that are nearly identical to the ones carried by the Hell Wrath. He can also have the ball bounce around in an attempt to crush his enemy or roll quickly to run over his opponent. This ball can also create barriers similar to the ones that block doors in order to limit enemy movement options. If an enemy spends too much time near the ball, it will explode.
 * Barrier: Jester forms a barrier to protect himself from his spheres.

Arsenal
Perfect Amulet: Arkham was shortly in possession of the Perfect Amulet and used it to activate the latent power of Force Edge.

Force Edge: For a short time, Arkham held Force Edge, absorbing its power and even taking the form of Sparda.

Marotte: As Jester, he carries a bronze marotte with a terqoise gem at the top.

With Force Edge
After obtaining the Force Edge, Arkham gained the powers of Sparda. Dante encounters him in Mission 19. Unable to control Sparda's legendary power, Arkham turns into a hideous, blob-like monster with various new abilities.

Supernatural Strength: Arkham can easiliy pick up and restrain a grown man.

Accelerated healing: Arkham can reattatch limbs that have been removed.

Legion spawning: Arkham can spawn small demons known as Arkham's Legions to attack enemies.

Intellect
As a scholar, he is extremely knowledgeable on Sparda and his life, the Demon World, and other subjects pertaining to the nature and history of demons. He is the one who told Vergil of the various safeguards Sparda put on Temen-Ni-Gru and how to undo them, such as the seven demons whos names Sparda had stripped away. He also has knowledge of how to open the doors of Temen-Ni-Gru without having to undo the various puzzles or gather specific items that Dante needed to obtain.

Trivia

 * Jester is the PS2 memory card save icon for Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition. When attempting to copy, he'll start juggling the balls he's holding. Attempting to delete the save will cause him to get down on his hands and knees and shake his head in disappointment with the balls he was juggling being strewn on the ground next to him.
 * The name "Arkham" is a reference to the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, which is the setting for several stories composed by American author H.P. Lovecraft. The town is given the epithet "witch-haunted", and has a recurring role in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos (a series of tales that focus on the existence and designs of the Outer Gods: malevolent, ancient entities that attempt to infiltrate Earth and obliterate all human life).
 * Arkham might also be a reference to "Arkham Asylum", a facility housing the most notorious criminals in the DC Comics universe. One of the most famous inmates is the Joker, a possible inspiration for Jester.